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\  '  Resident  ofiht  fhsfitutk  ii/  fismeopaihy,  0/ttAHa,  Mem^ 
.'    '  •  ^oard  of  Fffysiei«n»^  $ttM  SurgtonSt  Ontarf^ 


t  'U. 


-OF  TH^»-**«-^ 


>'/v^l 


The  Personality  of  Hahnemann.' 


I  am  not  sure  that  the  title  given  to  my  address  is  suffi- 
ciently distinctive,  or  sufficiently  comprehensive,  or  if  it  be  only 
suggestive.  But  I  do  know  that  if  we  think  of  Hahnemann  at 
all,  his  personality  must  occupy  a  great  share  of  our  attention, 
for  it  is  a  most  prominent  feature  of  his  life  and  work. 

Have  you  ever  noticed  how  few  of  our  friends  and  acquaint- 
ances have  any  distinct  personality?  Take  away  from  neighbor 
A  his  wealth,  from  B  his  social  rank,  from  C  his  wife's  relations, 
from  D  his  political  influence  in  the  corner  grocery,  from  E  his 
tailor's  skill,  and  what  is  left?  What  remains  behind  all  the  ac- 
cessories of  social  circumstances  by  which  ve  will  remember  him 
when  death  strips  off  the  perishable  garb  in  which  Time  dresses 
men  ?  But  Hahnemann  had  such  a  distinct  personality, — shining 
out,  clearly  defined,  so  that  we  see  the  man  himself,  not  in  his 
time  dress,  but  in  his  eternal  character ;  a  personality  so  marked 
that  we  realize  at  a  glance  how  lasting  the  impression  such  an 
one  must  make  on  his  contemporaries — and  on  posterity — no 
matter  what  branch  of  science  he  studied,  or  what  calling  he 
pursued.  There  have  been,  and  there  are  to-day,  men  of  this 
kind ;  but  at  the  time  in  which  Hahnemann  appeared  just  such 
an  one  was  needed  in  the  field  of  medicine.  It  was  a  period  of 
ignorance,  doubt  and  confusion.  Systems  of  medicine,  so  called, 
there  were  in  abundance.  Stoll  in  Germany  (i  742-1 788)  had 
popularized  an  evacuant  method,  founded  on  the  theory  that 
most  diseases  were  due  to  gastric  impurities  ;  and  Kampf  at  the 
same  time  carried  this  idea  to  its  logical  conclusion,  and  for  all 

*Delivered  before  the  Hahnemann  Society  of  the  HonuKopathic   Hospital 
College,  February  4th,  1892. 

—  1  — 


diseases  had  one  remedy — the  clyster — to  be  administered  daily 
for  months  if  necessary,  some  of  his  patients  having  taken  over 
5,000  injections  before  they  finally  recovered.  Brown  had  man\ 
followers  who  placed  implicit  confidence  in  the  theory  of  irrita- 
bility, classifying  all  diseases  into  the  sthenic  and  the  asthenic, 
and  prescribing  depleting  or  stimulating  remedies  as  the  case 
might  require.  Shelling  and  his  friends  adopted  a  theory  of  what 
they  termed  "  natural  philosophy,"  describing  the  processes  of 
health  and  disease  in  language  more  learned  than  intelligible,  \et 
claiming  for  their  theory,  in  the  words  of  Stefnus,  that  it  ''  has 
the  priority  of  knowledge,  for  it  is  the  knowledge  of  knowledge, 
and  must  be  regarded  as  potentized  knowledge."  Then  there 
were  the  advocates  of  chemical  treatment,  who  found  the  sources 
of  all  physical  ills  in  the  disturbance  of  chemical  processes,  and 
their  treatment  in  the  application  of  chemical  compoimds.  Some 
physicians  adopted  a  theory,  and  clung  to  it,  despite  all  conse- 
quences, as  tenaciously  as  the  immortal  Dr.  Sangrado  before 
them.  A  greater  number  changed  from  one  theory  to  another, 
and  ran  the  ganmt  of  all  methods.  They  certainly  had  a  large 
variety  to  select  from  in  each  case.  Hahnemann  himself  in  his 
paper  on  "  The  present  want  of  Foreign  Medicines"  (see  Lesser 
Writings),  attempted  to  catalogue  the  various  plans  which  oflfered 
themselves  to  the  physician :  "  The  method  of  treating  diseases 
by  scouring  out  the  stomach  and  bowels;  the  method  of  treat- 
ment which  aims  its  medicinal  darts  at  imaginary  acridities  and 
impurities  in  the  blood,  and  other  humors,  at  cancerous,  rachitic, 
scrofulous,  gouty,  herpetic,  and  scorbutic  acridities ;  the  method 
of  treatment  that  presupposes  in  most  diseases  a  species  of  fun- 
damental morbid  action,  such  as  dentition,  or  derangement  of  the 
biliary  system,  or  hemorrhoids,  or  infarctus,  or  obstruction  of  the 
mesenteric  glands,  or  worms,  and  directs  the  treatment  against 
these;  the  method  which  imagines  it  has  always  to  do  with  debil- 
ity, and  conceives  it  is  bound  to  stimulate,  and  re-stimulate 
(which  they  call  strengthen),  the  method  which  regards  the  dis- 
eased body  as  a  mere  chemically  decomposed  mass,  which  must 
be  restored  to  the  proper  chemical  condition  by  chemical  anti- 
dotes— nitrogenous,  oxygenous,  hydrogenous;  another  method 
that  supposes  diseases  to  have  no  other  originating  cause  but  mu- 
cosities;  another  that  sees  only  the  inspissation  of  the  juices  ; 
and  yet  another  that  thinks  it  has  only  to  combat  putridity,"  and 

—  2  — 


•so  on.  Others  amalgamated  all  methods,  as  Piichelt,  writinji^  in 
Hnfeland's  Journal,  some  years  later  (1S19)  :  "We  live  now,"  he 
savs,  "  in  a  time  in  which  most  svsteir.s  are  blended  and  united. 
The  mechanical  and  chemical  views  of  the  organism  have  united, 
and  are  subordinated  to,  or  collocated  with,  the  dynamico-vital 
view.  The  humoral  and  solidary  theories  are  amalgamated,  and 
have  resolved  themselves  into  the  idea  of  the  reciprocal  action  of 
the  solid  and  fluid  portions  of  the  organism.  The  evacuating 
and  stimulating,  depleting  and  fortifying,  and  many  other  con- 
flicting methods  of  treatment,  dwell  peacefully  side  by  side  in 
general  therapeutics,  and  mutually  limit  one  another.  All  are 
used  by  our  contemporaries  in  xarious  diseases,  though  one  may 
prefer  one  method — another,  another." 

Let  Hahnemann  himself  describe  the  medical  science  of  his 
day,  as  it  appeared  to  him  after  he  had  investigated  it  from  Alpha 
to  Omega:  "  An  elaborate  house  of  cards;  a  thing  altogether  op- 
.  posed  to  nature  and  experience  ;  a  tissue  of  guesses  and  assump- 
tions ;  a  mere  nullity ;  a  pitiful  self-delusion  ;  •■'  '•'  *  which 
labors  under  the  curse  of  not  being  what  it  pretends  to  be — un- 
able to  do  what  it  promi.ses  to  do." 

More  than  two  thousand  years  had  passed  since  the  days  of 
Hippocrates,  the  F'ather  of  Medicine,  and  the  medical  generation 
of  the  twentieth  century  was  no  wiser  than  that  of  the  first.  Some 
of  the  ablest  and  best  of  men  in  every  age  had  been  engaged  in 
practicing  medicine  and  in  teaching  medicine.  To  it  had  been 
given  the  talents  of  the  wise ;  the  gold  of  the  wealthy  ;  the  pa- 
tronage of  the  powerful.  But  while  there  had  been  motion  and 
commotion,  there  had  been  no  progress.  And  if  the  great  physi- 
cian of  Cos  could  have  been  re-incarnated  in  Vienna  or  Leipsic, 
in  London  or  Paris,  in  the  days  of  which  we  speak,  he  would 
have  been  a  better  physician  than  any  of  his  descendants,  with 
the  experience  of  twenty  centuries  at  their  command.  What 
was  the  cause  of  this  barrenne.ss  ?  It  may  with  justice,  I  think, 
be  attributed  largely  to  the  influence  of  that  philosophy  which 
dominated  all  intellectual  life  from  the  days  when  Socrates  talked 
and  Plato  wrote,  all  down  the  ages  until  Bacon  pointed  out  a  bet- 
ter way,  and  led  into  more  fruitful  fields — a  philosophy  which,  it 
has  been  epigrammatically  said,  "  disdained  to  be  useful  and  was 
content  to  be  stationary."  It  was  a  philosophy  which  exploited 
in  words,  but  was  barren  in  deeds.     A  philosophy  of  dialectics, 

—  3  — 


whose  weapons  were  syllogisms,  whose  battlefield  was  the  acad- 
emy, whereon  victories  were  won  in  ver1)ose  disputations  which 
commenced  anew  as  soon  as  the\  were  ended.  A  philosophy  of 
the  treadmill,  soi"&  round  and  round,  but  never  forward.  The 
philosophy  of  Tartarus,  wherein  weary  Sissyphus  ever  rolls  the 
same  recoiling  stone,  and  thirsty  Tantalus  clutches  in  vain  at  the 
receding  clusters.  This  philosophy  dominated  all  science,  and 
permeated  all  intellectual  life,  until  Bacon  taught  a  philosophy- 
of  utility  and  of  progress.  It  influenced  and  controlled  the  teach- 
ers of  medicine  as  of  all  other  branches  of  learning ;  and  it  need 
be  no  matter  of  surprise  that  all  movement  in  medicine  was  by 
way  of  the  treadmill,  and  not  by  way  of  the  straight  road  that 
leads  to  some  definite  goal.  And  with  all  the  diversities  of  med- 
ical belief  and  medical  practice,  the  system  of  medical  ethics  cor- 
responded. "  A  savage  partisan  spirit,"  says  a  writer,  (Professor 
Roose,  in  1803;  Harris'  Archiv.  Med.,  Erf,  III.  p.  i)  "  has  taken 
possession  of  many  minds,  and  seems  to  be  spreading  universally. 
Physicians  split  into  sects,  every  one.  of  which  embitters  the 
other  by  violent  and  often  unfounded  contradictions.  Dogmatisni 
and  a  persecuting  spirit  are  becoming  common  among  physicians, 
and  are  only  distinguished  from  the  dogmatism  and  persecution 
of  enraged  religious  sects  in  former  times  by  being  fortunately 
powerless  to  arm  the  secular  authorities  with  fire  and  sword 
against  their  adversaries." 

So  intensely  ignorant  were  the  bulk  of  medical  practition- 
ers, that  they  failed  to  realize  their  ignorance — having  reached 
that  lowest  moral  plane  whereon  stands  the  man  who  does  not 
know, — and  does  not  know  that  he  does  not  know.  Here  and 
there  one  had  mounted  a  little  higher,  and  had  his  eyes  suffi- 
ciently opened  to  recognize  darkness,  like  Girtanner,*  who  de- 
clared that  "  as  the  healing  art  has  no  fixed  principles,  as  nothing 
is  demonstrated  clearly  in  it,  every  physician  has  the  right  to 
follow  his  own  opinions.  When  there  is  no  question  of  real 
knowledge,  where  every  one  is  only  guessing,  one  opinion  is  as 
good  as  another.  In  the  dense  Egyptian  darkness  of  ignorance 
in  which  physicians  are  groping  their  way,  not  even  the  faintest 
ray  of  light  has  penetrated,  by  means  of  which  they  can  see  their 

*Ausfuhrliche    Darstellung    des    Brdwnishen     System.       Gottingen,    1798. 
11.  pp.  608,  610. 

—  4  — 


course."  A  century  has  passed  since  Girtanner  wrote,  and  you 
will  find  not  a  few  physicians  of  the  Old  School  who  are  not  yet 
out  of  the  slough  of  medical  agnosticism.  Just  imagine  your- 
selves back  on  the  earth  in  one  of  its  earlier  stages  of  develop- 
ment viewing  the  forms  of  life  from  the  shores  of  a  palae/oic  sea. 
See  what  a  variety  of  oulre  shapes  I  There  is  a  sponge-like  crea- 
tiire,  whose  whole  existence  is  spent  in  alternate  sucking-in  and 
squirting-out;  and  there  the  rotifer  swings  around  on  its  own 
axis,  always  pursuing  and  never  overtaking.  The  mollusk  crawls 
slowly  over  its  sandy  bed,  tentatively  projecting  itself  from  its 
shell,  but  at  the  approach  of  an^'thing  novel  quickly  retreating 
under  its  calcareous  roof,  while  his  little  neighbor,  the  octapod 
cuttle-fish,  as  promptly  hides  itself  in  the  darkness  of  its  own  se- 
cretions. The  zoophyte  seems  to  float  on  the  surface  ;  but  though 
it  moves  with  every  undulation  of  the  water,  yet  its  roots  cling 
to  the  sea-bed,  and  there  is  always  motion  but  no  progress.  Over 
the  land  crawl  saurian  forms,  while  semi-erect  mammalia  bend 
towards  the  earth,  yet  turn  their  faces  upward  at  times,  as  though 
their  eyes  would  catch  gleams  of  more  light  than  the  earth  re- 
flects. Then,  at  once,  almost  with  the  suddenness  of  a  new  cre- 
ation, if  such  a  thing  were  possilile,  a  fully  developed  vertebrated 
being  appears,  standing  erect,  and  capable  of  no  other  posture,  be- 
cause it  is  fashioned  and  framed  to  stand  and  move  in  that  way, 
and  in  no  other.  Such  was  the  advent  of  Hahnemann  in  the 
world  of  medical  science. 

During  the  last  century  there  lived  a  porcelain  painter  by  the 
name  of  Hahnemann  in  the  little  town  of  Meissen,  in  Saxony. 
Not  a  very  notable  man  in  any  way;  industrious,  intelligent, 
honest,  I  should  think,  but  certainly  not  a  rich  man,  nor  one  of 
any  special  rank  in  his  community.  To  this  man  and  his  wife 
came  their  first-born  on  the  loth  April,  1755,  to  whom  they  gave 
the  name  Samuel  Christian  Frederick, — to  be  known  in  after 
years  as  Dr.  Samuel  Hahnemann,  the  originator  of  the  great  re- 
form in  medicine. 

Of  the  childhood  of  Hahnemann  record  tells  but  little,  and 
that  little  of  no  consequence.  Not  many  great  men  were  great 
in  their  boyhood.  In  their  school  days  they  might  show  signs  of 
the  coming  greatness,  show  it  not  so  much  in  any  wonderful 
works  they  might  perform,  as  in  those  indications  of  character 
which  in  after  times  achieve  greatness.     Energetic  it  may  be 


truthfully  said  was  Hahneinann  in  his  school  class,  else  had  he 
not  persisted  in  spite  of  domestic  difficulties  and  lack  of  pecuni- 
ary means  to  pursue  his  studies.  And  if  he  gave  signs  therein 
of  his  coming  greatness,  it  was  only  as  the  industrious  school 
boy,  eager  to  actiuire  knowledge  and  to  cultivate  his  talents, 
gives  unmistakable  evidence  of  an  intelligent  perseverance  that 
is  fruitful  of  great  things.  Doubtless  he  was  a  school  boy  who 
was  not  content  with  memorizing  by  rote,  and  learning  his  allot- 
ted task  and  no  more.  But  a  boy  whose  books  were  not  clo.sed 
when  school  hours  were  over ;  who  preferred  to  get  a  little  u:ore 
of  his  lesson  rather  than  a  little  less ;  a  boy  who  was  not  satisfied 
with  memorizing  simply,  but  who  wanted  to  know  the  why  and 
the  wherefore  of  that  which  he  learned.  Many  a  time  he  must 
have  questioned  and  questioned  again  his  teachers,  almost  wears  - 
ing  them  it  may  be  with  his  pertinacity ;  and  \et  delighting  them 
as  teachers  are  always  delighted  with  earnest  scholars.  And  they 
showed  their  appreciation  of  his  industry;  for  while  his  father, 
unable  to  provide  the  means  to  continue  his  education,  would 
have  taken  him  away  from  school,  and  apprenticed  him  to  his 
own  trade,  the  teachers  prevented  it  by  remitting  his  fees  during 
the  last  eight  years  of  his  school  life,  and  by  utilizing  his  .ser- 
vices, thus  giving  him  the  opportunity  his  father's  circumstances 
would  not  allow.  At  the  age  of  12  he  was  employed  in  teaching 
classics,  so  that  his  long  life  of  labor  continued  from  the  age  of 
12  to  that  of  88 ;  for  he  was  in  active  service  up  to  a  few  weeks 
from  the  date  of  his  death — 76  years  of  work. 

In  1775  Hahnemann  finished  his  preliminary  course  at 
school  and  entered  upon  the  study  of  medicine  in  Leipsic.  His 
father  gave  him  his  blessing  and  thirty  thalers,  the  last  money  he 
ever  received  from  that  source.  Henceforth  he  had  to  fight  his 
own  battle ;  and  he  fought  it — at  Leipsic,  at  Vienna,  and  at  Er- 
langen,  where  he  graduated  in  1779.  His  student  life  was  not  one 
of  pleasure  and  amusement.  We  never  hear  of  his  being  out 
with  the  boys  all  night — painting  the  town  red,  as  is  the  custom 
of  students  in  all  ages.  There  was  no  drinking,  no  dicing,  no 
duelling  for  him.  There  could  not  be;  he  had  neither  money  to 
purchase,  nor  time  to  sow  any  wild  oats.  All  his  spare  moments 
were  given  to  work  which  could  provide  an  income,  teaching  and 
translating.  His  professors,  like  the  teachers  of  his  earlier  days, 
remitted  their  fees  to  the  earnest  student,  whose  energy  and  in- 

—  (>  — 


telligcncc  ^avc  sucli  j)r()niise  for  the  future.  While  at  \ieuna. 
Von  Ouarin,  the  emperor's  physician,  became  his  special  friend 
and  patron,  and  secured  for  him  the  position  of  librarian  and  resi- 
dent physician  to  the  j^overnor  of  Transylvania,  and  thus  he  was 
enabled  to  secure  the  means  of  supportinjj;  himself  and  pursuiuj.;^ 
his  studies  'v\  medicine  and  chemistry.  A  hard  life,  you  will  say, 
for  the  younjj^  student,  but  a  successful  one,  in  that  he  attained 
wisdom  and  experience,  which  for  one  in  his  circumstances  could 
be  obtained  no  other  way.  A  lesson  here  of  encouraj^ement  and 
warning  to  the  student  of  all  times.  Money  and  comfortable 
surroundino^s  are  good  things  to  have ;  but  povert>  is  the  fire- 
that  tries  the  gold.  In  this  age,  and  on  this  continent,  more  than 
in  any  other  time  or  place,  the  ambitious  young  man  can  lift  him- 
self out  of  his  circumstances  and  can  attair  all  the  education 
which  money  and  rank  can  procure.  But  he  must  work  and  not 
waste  the  golden  days  of  opportunity  in  idleness  and  dissipation. 
The  di.sciple  of  Minerva  cannot  enter  the  service  of  Venus  or  of 
Bacchus.  By  his  own  untiring  energy  the  poor  student  Hahne- 
mann acquired  the  knowledge  that  fitted  him  to  be  the  apostle  of 
a  new  di.spensation  in  science,  and  through  his  own  efforts  he 
reached  a  pinnacle  of  fame  whereon  he  stands  alone  for  all  time. 
To-day  the  name  of  Hahnemann  is  known  wherever  medicine  is 
practiced  in  the  civilized  world  ;  but  who  knows  where  lived  or 
when  died,  the  wealthier  contemporaries  of  Hahnemann,  whose 
names  were  entered  upon  the  same  university  lists  with  his? 

In  1779,  Hahnemann  received  his  degree,  and  now  we  find 
him  settled  in  practice.  Or,  rather,  I  should  say,  "unsettled." 
He  went  to  Hettstadt,  in  Saxony  ;  from  thence  to  Dessau  ;  next 
to  Gommern ;  and  then  to  Dresden  ;  back  to  Leipsic  ;  from  there 
elsewhere,  to  innumerable  places  ;  and  again  to  Leipsic,  where  he 
remained,  until  professional  prejudice  drove  him  out.  I  do  not 
think  that  during  the  lengthened  period  of  his  Wanderjahre,  Hah- 
nemann could  be  called  a  popular  physician.  The  fact  was,  he 
did  not  have  the  qualifications  for  a  popular  doctor.  The  physi- 
cian of  those  days  was  supposed  to  be  a  verj-  learned  man, — and 
generally  was,  except  in  medicine.  His  business,  apparently, 
was  to  dress  soberly,  look  wisely,  act  gravely,  talk  learnedly, — and 
pocket  his  fees  with  dignity.  So  far  as  treating  diseases  was  con- 
cerned, his  line  of  practice  involved  the  necessity  of  putting 
dnigs  of  which  he  knew  little  into  bodies  of  which  he  knew  less, 


— sometimes  in  accordance  with  the  fanciful  theories  of  the  day, 
sometimes  in  accordance  with  whims  of  his  own.  Why  he  did 
what  he  did,  and  why  he  left  undone  what  he  did  not  do,  con- 
cerned him  very  little;  and  if  he  wanted  to  live  a  comfortable  life 
he  allowed  them  to  concern  him  not  at  all.  Perhaps  the  great- 
est weakness  of  so-called  medical  science  in  those  days  was  ser- 
vile imitation.  Slavish  submission  to  recognized  authorities 
characterized  the  average  physician.  Bound  in  the  fetters  of  dog- 
matic assertion  he  stumbled  through  life,  trying  to  plant  his  un- 
certain feet  in  the  footsteps  of  those  hie  accepted  as  his  masters ; 
preferring  that  his  patient  should  die  according  to  rule  rather  than 
be  cured  by  unauthorized  measures ;  and  opposing  heresy  more 
vigorously  than  he  opposed  disease.  Travelers  tell  us  that  in  the 
Fiji  Islands  when  a  chief  marches  forth,  followed  in  single  file  by 
his  soldiers,  should  he  stumble  and  fall,  every  soldier  immediate- 
ly stumbles  and  falls  ;  and  if  one  should  forget  himself  and  stand 
upright,  he  is  promptly  clubbed  to  death  by  his  more  loyal  fellows. 
But  Hahnemann  was  not  a  Fijian.  He  declined  to  follow  any  lead- 
er in  file  and  loyally  stumble  whenever  his  leader  tripped.  And 
though  his  fellows  tried  to  apply  the  Fijian  discipline,  they  could 
not  club  him  into  .submission  or  silence.  He  could  not  believe 
simply  because  .some  one  else  believed  ;  he  could  not  do  simply 
becau.se  .some  one  else  had  done.  He  wanted  a  reason  for  his 
creed,  and  for  his  work.  He  wanted  evidence  of  the  truth  before 
he  would  accept  anything  as  true. 

A  century  and  a  half  before  his  time,  a  great  philosopher  is- 
sued to  the  world  his  "  Di.scourse  on  the  Method  of  I'sing  the  Rea- 
son, and  of  Seeking  Scientific  Truth."  The  central  idea  of  his 
philo.sophy  was,  as  a  necessary  accompaniment  of  the  earnest 
search  for  truth,  to  give  unqualified  as.sent  to  no  propositions  but 
those  the  truth  of  which  is  so  clear  and  distinct  that  they  cannot 
be  doubted.  Hahnemann  had  adopted  for  his  mode  of  practice 
in  scientific  pursuits,  the  doctrine  of  Des  Cartes  ,  and  wanted  to 
know  before  he  would  believe ;  and  would  believe  only  what  he 
knew. 

Hahnemann  was  no  quack.  The  quack  has  been  defined  to 
be  "  a  boastful  pretender  to  a  knowledge  he  does  not  possess." 
There  are  two  varieties  of  the  creature  in  the  profession  to-day, 
as  in  all  days ;  the  self-conscious  quack,  who  is  a  knave  ;  and  the 
imconscious  quack,  who  is  a  fool.     Hahnemann  had  the  charac- 

—  H  — 


teristics  of  neither.  He  boasted  of  no  knowledge  he  did  not 
possess ;  no  skill  he  had  not  acquired.  He  uttered  his  belief  in 
nothing  but  that  which  he  was  assured  he  knew.  He  condemned 
nothing  of  whose  falsity  he  had  not  been  convinced  by  the 
evidence.  And  to  all  students  of  science  I  commend  the  spirit 
of  Hahnemann  ;  before  all  I  hold  up  the  Cartesian  basis  of 
faith.  For  practical,  every-day  life  it  is  sometimes  necessary  to 
tacitly  accept  certain  ideas  as  correct;  to  admit  the  possible  e-? 
istence  of  certain  reputed  facts.  But  give  unqualified  as,  -  '. 
nowhere,  and  to  no  thing,  unless  convinced  by  incontrovertible 
evidence  of  its  truth ;  deny  the  truth  of  no  statement  of  theory 
or  fact,  unless  your  own  researches  have  assured  you  it  is  false. 
Believe  nothing  simply  because  someone  in  authority  has  said 
it.  The  true  Hahnemannian  has  the  independent  spirit  of 
Hahnemann,  and  will  not  accept  even  the  assertions  of  Hahne- 
mann himself,  until  he  has  found  by  his  own  investigation  and 
experience  that  they  are  true.  Where  circumstances  have  not 
enabled  him  to  decide  for  himself,  he  must  remain  an  agnostic. 
Not  a  contented  agnostic  ;  but  an  agnostic  striving  ever  to  raise 
himself  out  of  the  darkness  of  agnosticism  ;  content  only  not  to 
know  so  long  as  he  is  unable  to  know.  For  the  fashionable  phy- 
sicians of  his  time,  Hahnemann  has  nothing  but  pity  and  con- 
tempt ;  and  did  not  hesitate  to  express  it.  What  he  thought 
of  their  unscientific  practice  may  be  best  judged  from  the  fact 
that  in  one  of  his  writings  during  this  time  he  declares  "  the  bung- 
ling of  physicians  "  to  be  "  the  most  fruitful  cause  of  death." 
And  he  vigorously  attacked  the  teaching  of  the  time.  "  The 
old  teachers  of  materia  medica,"  he  says,  "  with  their  puerilities, 
vagaries,  old  wives'  tales  and  falsities,  are  venerated  as  author- 
ities, even  in  the  most  recent  times — with  a  few  exceptions — 
and  neither  the  originators  nor  their  weak  disciples  deserve  to  be 
spared.  We  must  forcibly  sever  ourselves  from  these  deified 
oracles  if  we  wish  to  shake  off  the  yoke  of  ignorance  and  cre- 
dulity in  the  most  important  depiartment  of  medical  medicine."''' 
But  he  was  no  idle  Diogenes,  who  squatted  in  his  tub  and 
railed  at  his  contemporaries.  He  pursued  his  medical  prac- 
tice conscientiously,  so  far  as  his  knowledge  went.  But  not 
slavishly.  His  originality  showed  itself  in  his  practice ;  as, 
for   example,  when,   in  opposition   to  the   universal   custom  of 


«Cullen,  II.  p.  58. 

—  9  — 


chaining  up  lunatics  as  if  they  were  criminals,  he  treated  and 
cured  a  prominent  literary  man  without  violence  or  restraint ; 
declarintr  that  "  these  sufferers  are  always  rendered  worse  by 
rough  treatment  and  never  better."  He  was  thus  the  fitst  to 
introduce  rational  and  humane  treatment  of  insanity.  He  de- 
voted special  attention  to  hygiene.  He  may  indeed  be  called  the 
pioneer  hygienist  of  modern  times  ;  for  there  is  more  on  this 
subject  to  be  found  in  one  of  his  lesser  writings*  than  in  all  the 
writings  of  all  the  medical  authors  of  his  time,  and  for  thirty 
years  after. 

Nor  was  he  an  obscure  physician,  unknown  to  his  contem- 
poraries. Even  in  his  younger  years  of  uncertainty  and  doubt 
his  professional  standing  might  have  satisfied  a  more  than  aver- 
age man.  Says  a  biographer — Brunnow — '•  Even  in  the  begin- 
ning of  his  career  as  a  physician  he  succeeded  in  achieving  many 
splendid  cures  by  his  simple  method  of  treatment,  and  wherever 
he  went  he  carried  with  him  the  reputation  of  a  careful  and 
successful  practitioner."  The  Cierman  medical  journals  of  the 
period  have  frequent  references  to  him  as  a  capable  physician  of 
widely  extended  fame.  And  Hufeland,  the  leading  physician  of 
that  day,  and  in  his  own  country,  calls  him,  "  A  man  whose  ser- 
vices to  our  art  are  sufficiently  important  .  .  .  one  of  the  most 
distinguished  physicians  of  Germany  .  .  a  physician  of  matured 
experience  and  reflection."  In  his  unsatisfied  searchings  after 
medical  truth,  he  explored  the  realms  of  chemistry  with  results 
which  gave  him  a  reputation  as  one  of  the  most  accompli.shed 
scientists  of  his  day.  His  works  on  arsenic  ;  on  the  adulteration 
of  wines ;  on  fests  for  metals  ;  on  the  soluble  mercury  to  which 
his  name  was  subsequently  given  ;  and  the  innumerable  articles 
from  his  pen  in  the  scientific  journals  of  his  time,  stamped  him 
an  original  and  practical  thinker.  "  A  great  chemist  he  would 
have  been,"  said  Berzelius,  in  after  days,  "  if  he  had  not  been  a 
great  quack  " — the  involuntary  homage  of  a  prejudiced  opponent. 
He  found  time  for  translating,  with  free  notes,  many  of  the  lead- 
ing text-books  ;  and  in  not  a  few  cases  the  translations  were  more 
valuable  than  the  original  works. 

Let  me  give  you  an  illustration  (for  which  I  am  indebted  to 
Ameke's  History  of  Homoeopathy)  which  may  give  .some  idea  of 
his  industry,  and  of  his  learning. 

*Guide  to  the  Treatment  of  I'lcers. 

—  10  — 


In  the  year  1784  Hahnemann  translated  Demachy's  "  Art  of 
Mannfacturing  Chemical  Prodncts."  Deniachy  was  one  of  the 
first  chemists  of  the  day.  His  work  was  considered  a  \ery  vain- 
able  one  ;  and  was  translated  into  several  languages.  It  is  not 
known  now,  of  course  ;  because  it  was  full  of  the  errors  of  the 
times,  and  has  long  since  been  superseded.  But  it  was  a  text- 
book a  century  ago.  Of  Hahnemann's  translation,  Crell's  Aiina- 
len,  the  leading  chemical  journal  of  Germany,  said  :  "  The  work 
has  fallen  into  the  hand.i  of  a  writer  who  has  improved  and  per- 
fected it.  .  .  .  Dr.  Hahnemann  has  added  a  great  many  notes  of 
his  own,  by  which  the  scope  of  this  work  has  been  increased,  and 
its  errors  corrected,  etc.  Let  us  see  how  far  this  eulogy  is  borne 
out.  In  addition  to  translating  the  text,  Ameke  says  that  Hah- 
nemann has  added  notes  citing  ten  authors  on  the  subject  of  the 
preparation  of  antimonials ;  and  quotes  a  number  of  works  on 
lead,  quicksilver,  camphor,  succinic  acid  and  borax.  Where  I), 
remarks  that  he  knows  no  works  on  the  carbonification  of  turf, 
H.  mentions  six  ;  where  I),  speaks  of  a  rare  Italian  book,  H.  gives 
further  details  concerning  it ;  where  I),  speaks  of  a  French  ana- 
lyst without  giving  his  name,  H.  adds  the  nanieof  the  author  and 
of  his  book  ;  D.  mentions  a  celebrated  German  doctor,  and  H.  is 
able  to  give  the  name,  work,  passage  referred  to ;  and  so  in  many 
other  cases.  In  numerous  places  he  gives  more  precise  informa- 
tion in  explanation  of  the  text,  and  gives  fuller  details  of  the 
chemical  reaction.  Under  the  head  of  distillation  he  gives  practi- 
cal details  which  improve  on  Demachy's  methods,  he  describes  an 
areometer  of  his  own  invention.  He  describes  an  improvement 
on  Demachy's  method  of  increasing  flame  where  there  is  not  a 
proper  current  of  air.  He  gives  directions  to  the  mason  and  the 
potter  for  special  retorts.  He  gives  precise  directions  as  to  how 
hearths  and  grates  should  be  made,  and  of  what  height  they 
should  be,  and  how  the  fire  is  to  be  regulated.  He  shows  him- 
self well  acquainted  with  the  manufacture  of  chemicals  in  other 
countries  ;  and  corrects  Demachy  in  several  particulars.  He  gives 
full  information  as  to  pit  coal  and  coke  in  England.  He  intro- 
duces new  tests  for  several  metals  and  acids ;  and  so  on.  And 
this  was  his  method  with  all  his  tran.slations.  He  touched  noth- 
ing without  improving  it.  He  translated  no  book  in  which  he 
did  not  make  it  perfectly  plain  that  he  knew  as  much  about  the 
su])ject  as  the  original  author  ;  and  in  many  cases  much   more. 

—  11  — 


Let  it  be  remembered,  also,  that  in  acquiring  the  knowledge  nec- 
essary for  this  great  labor  Hahnemann  was  at  a  disadvantage 
compared  with  most  of  the  authors  he  translated.  They  were 
generally  learned  professors,  who  had  at  their  disposal  college 
laboratories  and  apparatus ;  sometimes  they  had  government  money 
at  their  disposal.  Hahnemann  had  none  of  this.  He  was  a  pri- 
vate physician  ;  a  comparatively  poor  man  ;  dependent  upon  his 
daily  work  for  his  daily  bread  ;  experimenting  with  very  imper- 
fect machinery  in  the  intervals  snatched  from  professional  toil. 
And  yet  with  all  these  disadvantages,  he  showed  himself  in  every 
branch  of  learning  and  of  science  the  equal,  even  the  superior  of 
experts  and  specialists. 

His  labor  was  appreciated  by  his  contemporaries.  Read 
Ameke's  History  of  Homoeopathy,  and  see  the  long  list  of  quota- 
tions from  the  scholars  and  scientists  of  his  time,  who  gave  him 
ungrudging  praise  for  his  investigations  and  discoveries.  Even 
Hufeland,  already  quoted,  while  opposing  Homceopathy,  could 
speak  of  Hahnemann  as  "  one  of  the  most  distinguished,  gifted 
and  original  of  physicians,"  one  "who  has  given  proof  in  many 
of  his  earlier  writings  of  a  grand  philosophical  acumen,  and  of  a 
rare  power  of  observation."  To  those  who  think  this  man  was  a 
theoriser  or  a  charlatan,  let  this  be  the  answer:  that  no  one  show- 
ing the  characteristics  he  showed  in  the  practical  nature  of  his 
scientific  pursuits,  could  ever  degenerate  into  what  some  of  his 
enemies  long  afterwards  charged  him  with  being.  In  all  things 
he  showed  himself,  then  and  always,  the  practical  man.  Showed  it 
even  in  marrying  a  good,  sensible  woman.  For  amid  his  many  oc- 
cupations he  found  time  to  get  married.  He  realized  that  even  the 
student  of  science  needs  the  support  and  aid  of  a  wife.  Perhaps 
he  turned  to  matrimony  as  a  hoped-for  recompense  for  his  disap- 
pointments in  medicine.  Henrietta  Kuchler,  the  lady  he  married 
in  17S3,  made  him  a  good  wife,  in  so  far  as  she  became  the  effi- 
cient manager  of  his  domestic  affairs ;  though  possibly  not  in  all 
things  a  congenial  spirit.  She  was  a  practical  woman.  I  do 
not  suppose  she  took  as  lively  an  interest  in  his  vievvs  on  medi- 
cal and  scientific  questions  as  he  might  have  desired.  She  was 
rather  a  type  of  the  sensible  housewife,  who  tries  to  make  the 
best  of  what  is,  without  aspiring  to  higher  ideals.  Philosophers' 
wives  sometimes  get  a  bad  name  because  they  do  not  enter  into 
the  higher  aspirations  of  their  husbands.     But  they   do  not  al- 

—  1'2  — 


ways  deserve  the  censures  they  receive.  Perhaps  they  have  a 
liard  time  of  it,  when  their  husbands  persist  in  mounting  up  to 
the  higher  altitudes,  regardless  of  the  very  important  affairs  of 
ever) -day  life.  The  wife  has  to  get  the  dinner  ready;  and 
the  husband  does  not  always  provide  the  beef  and  potatoes.  If 
she  cannot  climb  up  to  the  philosopher's  attic,  the  husband  will 
not  come  down  to  the  kitchen  floor,  and  take  his  share  of  her  do- 
mestic worries.  Socrates'  pupils  tell  some  hard  tales  about  Xan- 
tippe ;  but  we  have  never  heard  her  side  of  the  story.  If  she 
plagued  him  by  her  active  tongue,  no  doubt  he  more  than  repaid 
the  debt  by  his  philosophic  indifference  to  sublunary  affairs. 
But  however  it  may  have  been  in  Hahnemann's  case,  and 
whatever  his  pupils  may  have  said,  he  never  speaks  other  than 
most  kindly  and  affectionately  of  his  wife,  thus  setting  a  good 
example  to  all  of  us  who  think  ourselves  the  intellectual  superiors 
of  our  wives,  and  who  may  be  inclined  to  forget  how  much  we 
are  indebted  to  them  for  the  domestic  happiness  we  enjoy.  It  is 
very  nice  to  have  a  Martha  who  will  sit  at  our  feet  and  gather  the 
words  of  wisdom  that  fall  from  our  lips ;  but  when  dinner  time 
comes  we  would  be  in  a  sad  plight  were  it  not  for  the  Mary  who 
has  been  supervising  the  cuisine. 

But  to  return  from  this  digression :  Hahnemann,  collecting 
facts,  and  interrogating  them,  as  a  student  should,  at  last  found 
the  answer.  Over  the  darkness  of  medical  chaos  light  began  to 
dawn.  You  all  know  the  story,  how,  somewhere  about  1790, 
translating  CuUen,  he  was  struck  with  the  contradictory  state- 
ments made  concerning  quinine  ;  how  he  determined  to  find  out 
for  himself  the  action  of  the  drug  on  the  healthy  organism  ;  how 
he  proved  it,  and  found  the  symptoms  of  intermittent  fever.  Did 
he  at  once  jump  to  conclusions — develop  a  theory — proclaim  a 
dogma — and  then  begin  a  search  for  more  facts  to  support  it  ? 
That  was  not  his  method.  He  continued  to  investigate;  he 
proved  drugs  on  himself  and  his  friends  ;  he  accumulated  facts  ; 
and  not  until  1796,  in  an  article  in  HufelancTs  Journal.,  "  On  a 
New  Principle  for  Discovering  the  Curative  Power  of  Drugs,"  did 
he  announce  the  law  Similia  Similibus  Curanlur.  And  let  it  be 
noticed  that  in  his  first  utterances  regarding  his  new  system^ 
Hahnemann  acted  according  to  a  well-recognized  principle  ofmedi- 
cal  ethics.  He  spoke  first  tohis  own  profession.  His  announcement 
was  made  in  the  leading  medical  periodical — Hufeland's  Journal. 

—  13  — 


And  he  continued  that  plan  until  the  persecution  of  his  contem- 
poraries relieved  him  from  all  obligation.  His  first  provings 
were  published  in  Latin  ;  the  first  edition  of  the  Organon  was  for 
physicians  only.  And  that  is  a  principle  upon  which  the  true 
physician  will  ever  act.  The  accumulated  fund  of  medical  ex- 
perience— be  it  much  or  little — has  been  placed  freely  at  our  dis- 
posal. Our  grateful  acknowledgments  are  shown  by  contributing 
lo  the  general  fund  all  that  we  may  find.  If  we  have  discov- 
ered a  new  remedy,  if  we  have  invented  a  new  appliance,  if  we 
have  developed  a  new  theory,  to  our  own  profession  it  must  be 
submitted  for  their  judgment,  and  if  approved,  for  their  service. 
An  appeal  to  the  laity  is  ever  the  first  resort  of  the  charlatan  ; 
the  last  resource  of  the  scientist. 

Hahnemann,  I  have  said,  did  not  rush  into  print  the  mo- 
ment he  thought  he  saw  new  light  in  the  treatment  of  disease. 
Six  years  passed  before  he  announced  his  "New  Principle;" 
twenty  years  passed  before  he  published  his  more  matured  ideas 
in  the  "  Organon  ;  "  twenty-eight  years  before  their  complete  de- 
velopment in  the  book  on  "  Chronic  Diseases."  All  this  time  he 
was  studying,  enquiring,  experimenting,  accumulating  facts. 
For  he  was  a  practical  man  ;  not  a  theorizer.  He  gathered  up 
facts ;  arranged  them  ;  questioned  them  ;  practiced  medicine  in 
accordance  with  them,  and  only  made  up  theories  afterwards  to 
account  for  the  facts.  He  found  by  investigation  that  the  medi- 
cine that  would  promptly  antagonize  a  disease  was  the  medicine 
which  produced  upon  the  healthy  person  symptoms  similar  to  that 
disease ;  and  thereupon  he  developed  his  theory  of  Homceopathy. 
He  found  that  small  and  still  smaller  doses  were  more  efficacious 
than  the  dose  of  ordinary  practice ;  and  on  this  fact  he  developed 
his  theory  of  potentization  and  dynamization.  After  experience 
in  the  treatment  of  diseases  of  long  standing,  he  gathered  up 
certain  other  facts ;  and  on  these  he  based  his  theory  of  chronic 
diseases.  Always  it  was  the  practical  first — the  theoretical  after- 
wards. Let  him  speak  for  himself  on  this  matter,  in  the  preface 
to  the  Organon :  "  Facts  and  Experience,"  he  says,  "  must  be  at 
the  root  of  all  revelations  of  truth.  If  we  take  a  single  step  out- 
ride the  region  of  observation,  we  shall  find  ourselves  in  the  infi- 
nite kingdom  of  fantasy  and  arbitrary  assumption — the  parent  of 
disastrous  delusion  and  of  absolute  nothingness."  To  demand 
evidence  in  accordance  with  the  Cartesian  philosophy ;  to  accu- 

—  14  — 


Ululate  facts,  and  draw  conclusions  from  facts  only,  as  tauglit  by 
liacon ;  these  constituted  the  cardinal  principles  upon  which 
Hahnemann  attempted  to  base  his  doctrines.  And  thouj^h  he 
may  have  made  mistakes,  as  fallible  men  will  ;  though  he  mav 
sometimes  have  accepted  as  evidence  what  proved  to  be  false  ev- 
idence, and  as  facts  what  were  not  facts,  yet  the  methods  of  his 
mental  operations  were  based  on  true  principles — the  principles 
which  must  guide  every  student  of  science,  if  he  would  seek 
truth  only,  and  would  be  satisfied  with  nothing  but  truth. 

The  first  announcement  of  the  doctrines  of  Homcx'opathy 
was  received  with  a  fair  measure  of  respectful  attention  bv 
the  profession.  While  many  criticised  and  objected,  yet  Hahn- 
emann's reputation  as  a  scientist  was  too  great  for  his  opinion  to 
be  treated  with  contempt,  or  opposed  with  malice.  But  this  did 
not  continue.  As  his  views  developed  and  his  convictions  of 
their  truth  strengthened,  he  became  impatient  with  the  profes- 
sional conservatism  which  hesitated  to  receive  the  new  gospel 
of  medicine.  He  replied  sharply  to  his  critics  ;  gave  back  blow 
for  blow  and  usually  with  interest  added  ;  "  carried  the  war  into 
Africa ;  "  converted  his  defensive  movements  into  attacks ;  and 
thus  each  party  to  the  contest  became  more  embittered.  Mean- 
while the  druggists  urged  on  the  fight.  Hahnemann  had  not 
only  repeatedly  pointed  out  the  incompetence  of  this  class,  and 
proved  their  too  common  practice  of  adulteration ;  he  decided 
to  prepare  his  own  medicines.  If  his  views  were  adopted,  all 
physicians  would  do  the  same.  Like  the  silversmiths  of  Ephesus, 
the  druggists  saw  with  alarm  that  their  craft  was  in  danger  and 
stimulated  the  opposition  by  all  means  in  their  power.  So  the 
war  went  on.  Not  only  the  candid  and  honest  criticism  of  the 
intelligent  physicians,  but  the  envy  of  the  small  men,  the  pro- 
fessional jealousy  of  local  practitioners,  the  stupid  malice  of  the 
ignorant,  all  fanned  by  the  sordid  virulence  of  the  apothecaries, 
swept  in  a  cyclone  around  Hahnemann  and  his  followers.  The 
chasm  between  the  new  school  and  the  old  grew  wider  each  day, 
and  when  the  persecution  culminated  by  the  apothecaries  invok- 
ing the  aid  of  an  old  law  which  forbade  physicians  making  up 
their  own  prescriptions,  and  drove  him  out  of  Leipsic,  the  chasm 
had  become  unbridgeable.  Had  Hahnemann  been  more  tolerant 
of  the  errors  and  absurdities  of  medical  practice,  he  might  not 
have  met  with  the  .same  opposition  from  the  profession.     Had 

—  15  — 


he  simply  added  on  Homoeopathy  to  the  innumerable  theories 
of  the  day,  and  only  claimed  for  it  that  it  was  a  method,  and  not 
the  method  of  cure,  it  is  quite  probable  it  might  have  been 
accepted  to  that  extent.  But  how  could  he?  It  is  the  very  na- 
ture of  truth  to  have  no  toleration  for  error.  There  are  no 
degrees  of  comparison  for  the  adjective  "  true."  A  thing  must 
be  either  true  or  not  true.  If  it  be  true,  then  it  cannot  tolerate 
the  untrue  ;  there  can  be  no  compromise  with  error.  Com- 
promises in  politics  are  said  to  be  necessary  at  times ;  but  com- 
promises in  science  must  be  always  unsatisfactory,  for  the 
reason  that  a  scientific  truth  cannot  compromise  with  an  un- 
scientific error.  Compromises  of  this  kind  have  been  thus 
illustrated  :  two  men  differ  in  regard  to  a  mathematical  propo- 
sition, one  maintains  that  2  and  2  make  4,  the  other  that  2  and 
2  make  6  ;  they  finally  compromise  and  agree  that  2  and  2  equal 
5.  Truth  can  only  compromise  with  error,  to  speak  in  paradox, 
when  error  corrects  itself  in  the  light  of  truth,  and  becomes  true. 
There  can  be  no  compromise  between  the  New  School  in 
Medicine  and  the  Old  School,  until  the  Old  School  adopts  the 
principles  and  practices  of  the  New.  Hahnemann  realized  him- 
self that  the  situation  called  for  emphatic  utterances.  In  1808, 
in  one  of  his  lesser  writings,  he  says:  "It  must  some  time  or 
other  be  boldly  and  publicly  said,  so  let  it  now  be  boldly  and 
frankly  said  before  the  whole  world,  that  our  art  requires  a 
thorough  reform  from  top  to  bottom.  What  should  not  be  done 
is  done ;  and  what  is  essential  is  utterly  neglected.  The  evil 
has  come  to  such  a  pitch  that  the  well-meant  mildness  of  a 
John  Huss  is  no  longer  of  any  use,  but  the  fiery  zeal  of  a  stal- 
wart Luther  is  required  to  clear  away  this  monstrous  leaven.  *  *  * 
O  that  it  were  mine  to  direct  the  better  portion  of  the  medical 
world  who  can  feel  for  the  sufferings  of  their  fellow  creatures,  and 
long  to  know  how  they  may  relieve  them,  to  those  purer  prin- 
ciples which  lead  directly  to  the  desired  goal."  Perhaps  if  Hah- 
nemann had  been  a  milder  mannered  man,  if  he  had  not  ex- 
pressed his  opinion  in  such  strong  terms,  and  condemned  medical 
error  so  vigorously,  if  he  had  not  been  so  dogmatic,  intolerant, 
bigoted,  if  you  choose  so  to  call  it,  he  would  have  had  a  more 
pleasant  time  with  his  contemporaries.  But  he  could  not  have 
done  other  than  he  did,  because  he  was  not  constructed  that  way. 
His  moral  anatomy  was  perfectly  developed,  in  that  he  possessed 

—  16  — 


those   two   necessary  structures,  without  which   no   man  is    fully 
equipped   for   the  work  of  life,  he  had  both  a  head  and  a  back- 
bone.    And  if  it  had  been  possible    for  him    to  have  acted  other 
than  he  did,    HouKjeopathy  would  not  have   attained  its  present 
standing.     It  recpiires  a  man  with  the  characteristics  of  Hahne- 
mann to  be  a   successful  aj^itator  against  ignorance   and   evil,  a 
man  of  strong   feelings,   unshaken   convictions,   determined  will, 
and  emphatic  utterance.     A  reformer  cannot  be  a  limber-backed, 
thin-muscled,   tender-voiced,   kid-gloved   man.     Remember  this, 
you  who   may  be  inclined   to  criticise   Hahnemann,   or  even  our 
own  ])ioneers  on  this  continent,  because  of  the  roughness,  bitter- 
ness, arrogance  even,   which  may   have   characterized  him  and 
them.      If  wc    have   not    to  suffer   the   persecution   our    medical 
fathers  suffered,   if  we  have   not  to  contend  with   the  invincible 
ignorance  and  malicious  bigotry  that  opposed  them,  it  is  because 
their  emi)hatic  intolerance  of  error,  their  uncompromising  support 
of  truth,  made  the  reforms  they  advocated  possible,  and  smoothed 
the  pathway  for  our  feet.     And  yet  with   all   his  apparent  arro- 
gance, Hahnemann  was  possessed  of  that  true  spirit  of  humility 
which  controls  everv  earnest  student.     "  No  encomiums  of  me," 
he  wrote  to  his  friend   Stapf,  "  I  feel   myself  to  be  nothing  more 
than  a  plain,  straight-forward  man,  who   merely  tries   to  do  his 
duty."     And,  on  his  death-bed,  to  the  s\mpathizing  wife,  who 
could  not  understand  why  Divine   Providence  should  peimit  one 
who  had  relieved  so  much  suffering  to  be  himself  so  great  a  suf- 
ferer, he  could  sa\  :  "  Why  should   I  expect  exemption  from  suf- 
fering ?     Every  one  works  according  to  the  gifts  and  powers  he 
has  received  from  Providence,  and  more  or  less  are  words  used 
only  at  the  judgment  seat  of  man.     Providence  owes  me  nothing; 
I  owe  it  much,  yes,  everything."     Nor  was  there  in   him  any 
feeling  of  personal  animosity   towards  those  whose  practices  he 
condemned.     The    men    he    rather    pitied,   when    he    could  not 
respect,   their  deeds  only  he  attacked.     To  a  young  physician 
(Schreter,  ofLemberg,  in  1829)  who  had  been  inveighing  warmly 
against  his  medical  opponents,  he  wrote  advising  him  to  moderate 
his   language.      "  No  good  result,"  he  wrote,  "  will   come  of  it. 
You  put  yourself  out  of  temper  by  it — a  most  undesirable  state 
of  mind.     Rather  compassionate  the  poor,  blind,  infatuated  crea- 
tures ;    it  is    mortification    enough    for   them   to    be    unable    t 
accomplish  anything  valuable.     Just  leave  them   alone  and  go 

—  ]7  — 


along  in  the  path  of  rectitude.  Be  honorable  in  your  practice 
without  allowing  yourself  to  be  led  astray.  You  will  then  have 
the  blessing  of  a  good  conscience,  and  can  live  your  own  life 
cheerfully  and  happily  in  privacy." 

But  he  could  afford  to  pos.sess  his  soul  in  peace,  for  he  had 
unbounded  confidence  in  the  success  of  his  doctrine.  He  knew 
it  was  true,  and  he  knew  that  the  truth  must  and  would 
prevail.  Writing  to  Stapf  in  1815  he  said:  "Our  art  requires 
no  political  lever,  no  worldly  decorations  in  order  to  become 
something.  It  grows  gradually,  at  first  unrecognized,  surrounded 
as  it  is  by  all  manner  of  weeds  which  luxuriate  around  it,  from  an 
insignifican*^  acorn  to  a  sapling;  soon  its  summit  will  overreach 
the  rank  weeds.  Patience  !  It  is  striking  deep  its  roots  into  the 
earth ;  it  is  increasing  its  strength  imperceptibly  but  all  the  more 
surely,  and  will  in  its  own  time  grow  into  an  oak  of  God  which, 
no  longer  to  be  shaken  by  storms,  spreads  out  its  branches  into 
all  regions,  that  suffering  humanity  may  be  healed  under  its 
beneficent  shade," 

Driven  out  of  Leipsic  by  the  apothecaries,  Hahnemann  ac- 
cepted a  position  as  hofrath  and  physician  to  his  old  friend  and 
client,  the  Duke  of  Anhalt-Coethen.  And  in  his  new  home  at 
Coethen,  from  182 1  to  1835,  he  lived  happily,  pursuing  his  stud- 
ies as  indefatigably  as  ever,  but  surrounded  by  an  able  and  de- 
voted band  of  assistants,  including  members  of  his  own  family. 
Here  he  had  the  respect  and  love  of  court  and  peopte ;  here  he 
suffered  the  saddest  bereavement  that  can  come  to  any  man — the 
death  on  the  30th  of  March,  1831,  of  the  woman  who  had  been 
his  partner  in  adversity  and  in  prosperity  for  46  years,  and  here 
he  comforted  himself  in  his  bereavement,  as  some  men  will  and 
can,  by  a  second  marriage.  Here  in  Coethen  he  was  the  popu- 
lar as  well  as  the  successful  physician.  But  he  did  not  on  that 
account  adopt  a  slovenly  and  careless  method  of  work.  His 
treatment  of  every  case  submitted  to  him  was  the  typical  Homoe- 
opathic treatment.  Cautiously  he  investigated  the  condition  of 
his  patient  and  recorded  the  symptoms.  Between  30  and  40 
folio  volumes  in  his  own  handwriting,  it  is  said,  contained  the 
records  of  his  practice.  An  allopathic  sneak  of  his  time  relates 
with  great  glee  how  he  called  on  Hahnemann,  pretending  to  be 
ill,  and  how  he  was  carefully  examined  fand  questioned  and  all 
the  supposed  symptoms  noted — the  process  lasting  about  an  hour 

—  18  — 


— until  the  master,  evidently  suspecting  a  fraud  from  internal 
evidence,  put  a  stop  to  the  farce  by  demanding  a  large  fee,  where- 
upon the  pse/tdo-pauent  sneaked  out.  But  this  thorough  exami- 
nation was  always  his  method.  He  was  not  content  with  sub- 
jective symptoms  alone,  though  he  estimated  them  highly  and 
gave  them  a  significance  they  never  had  before;  but  he  wanted 
all  the  symptoms — internal  as  well  as  external — objective  as  well 
as  subjective.  He  did  not  despise  pathology — which  is  but 
symptomatology  of  abnormal  structure  and  function — he  wanted 
the  "totality  of  the  symptoms."  And  only  a  skilled  pathologist 
could  see  clearly  the  symptoms  inside  as  well  as  those  outside.  He 
did  not  neglect  the  cause  of  the  disease.  "Never  mind  the  cause," 
say  some,  "if  you  only  see  the  symptoms  clearly."  Not  so 
thought  Hahnemann.  These  are  his  words  in  the  Organon  : 
"The  physician  must  avail  himself  of  all  the  particulars  he  can 
laarn,  both  respecting  the  probable  origin  of  the  acute  malady 
and  the  most  significant  points  in  the  history  of  the  chronic  dis- 
eases, to  aid  him  in  the  discovery  of  their  fundamental  cause." 
(Sec.  5.)  And  again  in  his  work  on  Chronic  Diseases  (Hempel's 
edition,  1845,  vol.  i,  p.  52):  "The  first  duty  of  the  physician 
who  apprecia  "s  the  dignity  of  his  character  and  the  value  of  hu- 
man life  is  to  inquire  into  the  whole  condition  of  the  patient,  the 
cause  of  the  disease,  etc." 

Thus,  having  ascertained  the  cause  of  the  disease,  inquired 
into  the  condition  of  the  patient  and  noted  the  totality  of  the 
symptoms,  he  selected  as  his  remedy  that  article  in  the  materia 
medica  whose  recorded  action  on  the  healthy  subject  most  clearly 
pictured  the  diseased  condition  he  was  about  to  treat.  And  that 
is  the  method  of  all  true  Homceopathists — of  all  true  Hahne- 
mannians — to-day. 

Was  he  always  successful?  it  may  be  asked.  Of  course  not. 
His  success  was  astonishing;  but  he  had  his  failures  like  all 
other  physicians.  How  could  it  be  otherwise?  Admitting  that 
HonuEopathy,  correctly  applied,  will  cure  every  diseased  state, 
the  fact  remains  that  in  our  day,  and  much  more  in  his,  the 
Homceopathic  Materia  Medica  is  incomplete.  There  are  thou- 
sands of  medicinal  substances  in  nature,  each  one  homoeopathic  to 
some  congeries  of  symptoms,  which  have  never  been  proven. 
And  Hahnemann  had  even  less  material  to  work  with  than  we 
have.     vSo  he  had  his  failures  ;  and  his  enemies  took  good  care  to 

—  19  — 


publisli  them.  And  he  made  his  mistakes,  as  all  fallible  men 
will.  Take  a  notable  example  :  In  i.Soo  he  thought  he  di.scov- 
ered,  in  the  decomposition  of  borax,  a  new  element,  to  which  he 
gave  the  name  of  alkali-pneum.  He  was  mistaken  ;  it  was  only 
borax  after  all.  Hut  as  soon  as  his  mistake  was  pointed  ont  by 
other  chemists  and  confirmed  by  himself  he  pnblished  a  long  ex- 
planatory article,  freely  admitting  his  error ;  and,  having  sold 
some  of  his  supposed  alkali,  he  caused  the  money  to  be  refunded. 
Chemists  more  noted  than  Hahnemann  were  making  similar 
mistakes  in  tho.se  early  days  of  the  science ;  but  Hahnemann 
stands  almost  alone  in  this — that  he  was  always  ready  to  confess 
his  mistakes.  Truth  was  his  goal.  It  mattered  not  to  him  if 
his  own  reputation  suffered  so  the  goal  was  reached. 

But  his  mistakes  and  failures  were  trifling  as  the  spots  which 
the  keen  eye  detects  on  the  surface  of  the  sun  but  which  cannot 
dim  its  brightness. 

What  was  the  personal  appearance  of  Hahnemann?  it  may 
be  asked.  Let  Brunnow,'''  who  was  admitted  to  intimate  social 
relations  with  his  family,  describe  him  in  his  62nd  year.  "  vSil- 
very  locks  surrounded  his  lofty,  thoughtful  brow,  beneath  which 
his  intelligent  eyes  flashed  forth  with  piercing  fire.  His  whole 
face  had  a  calmy  inquiring,  grand  expression  ;  only  at  times  did 
the  expression  of  a  delicate  humor  replace  that  of  deep  earnestness 
which  indicated  that  he  had  gone  through  many  troubles  and  strug- 
gles. His  bearing  was  upright,  his  gait  firm,  his  movements  alert, 
like  tho.se  of  a  man  of  thirty.  When  he  went  out  he  dressed  quite 
simply,  in  a  dark-colored  surtout,  and  breeches  and  boots.  In  his 
own  room,  however,  he  liked  to  wear  a  brightly-flowered  dres.sing 
gown,  yellow  slippers  and  black  velvet  cap.  His  long  pipe  was 
seldom  out  of  his  hand,  and  this  indulgence  in  tobacco  was  the 
only  relaxation  from  his  abstemious  mode  of  life.  His  drink  was 
water,  milk,  and  white  beer;  his  food  extremely  frugal.  His 
whole  domestic  arrangements  were  as  simple  as  his  food  and  his 
dress.  *  *  '•'  When  the  day's  work  was  done,  Hahnemann 
w^s  accustomed  to  recruit  himself  from  the  hours  of  eight  to  ten 
by  conversation  in  a  familiar  circle  of  friends.  All  his  friends  and 
pupils  had  free  access  to  him,  and  were  happy  and  cheerful  while 
smoking  and  drinking  white  beer.    In  the  middle  of  the  listening 

*Ein  Blick  auf  Hahnemann,  Leipsic,  1844 

—  20  — 


circle,  in  his  comfortable  arm-chair,   with  his   lon^  pipe    in    his 
hand,  sat  the  venerable  Kscnlapins,  and  alternately  related  amns- 
ing  and  serious  stories  from  his  stormy  life,   while  puffing  clouds 
of  smoke  from  his  pipe."     Seminary  Director  Albrecht,  who  en- 
joyed familiar  intercourse  with    him  from    1S21    to   1H35,   says: 
"  Hahnemann  was  always  happiest  in  his  family  circle,  and  dis- 
played here  as  nowhere  else  a  most  amiable  disposition  to  mirth 
and  cheerfulness.     He  jested  with   his  children   in  the  intervals 
which  he  could  devote  to  them  ;  sang  cradle   songs   to   the   little 
ones ;  composed  little  verses  for  them  ;   and   used  every  opportu- 
nity to  instruct  them.  Although  at  first  he  had  but  little,  he  spent 
as  much  as  he  could  possibly  save  on  the   education   and   culture 
of  his  children.     He  wished   them   to  learn  all  that   was   worth 
learning.""'-       Later    in    life,    (iriesslich,    after    visiting    him    at 
Coethen,  gave  this  description  :     "  Hahnemann,    at    the  age   of 
seventy-seven,  showed  in  every  action  all  the  fire  of  a  young  man. 
No  trace  of  old  age  could  be  detected  in  his  physical  appearance, 
except  the  white  locks  surrounding  his   temples,  and    the    bald 
crown,  which  is  covered  with  a  velvet  cap.     Small   and  sturdy  in 
form,   Hahnemann  is  lively  and  brisk.     Every  movement  is  full 
of  life.     His  eyes  reveal  his  inquiring  spirit.      They    flash    with 
the  fire  of  youth.     His  features  are  sharp  and  animated.      As  old 
age  seems  to  have  left  few  traces  on  his  body,   so  it   is  with   his 
mind.     His  language  is  fiery,  fluent,  often  becomes  vehement,  as 
a   stream  of  lava,    against    his   enemies    and    opponents,  not  of 
himself  personally  (for  that  he  never  alluded  to)  but  of  the  great 
truths  to  the  testing  of  which  he  had  summoned   his  colleagues 
for  many  decades.      His  memory  seems  to  be   unaffected.      After 
long  interludes   and   side  conversation,    he  continues    where  he 
left  off".     When  he  becomes  heated   in  conversation,  which  often 
happens,  whether  about  friend  or  foe,  or  on  scientific  subjects,  his 
words   flow    forth    uninterruptedly,  his  whole    manner    becomes 
extremely  animated,  and  an  expression    appears  on  his  counte- 
nance which  his  visitor  ((irie.sslich)  admired  in  silence.    Perspira- 
tion covers  his  lofty  brow ;  his  cap  is  removed,    even    his   long 
pipe,  his  trusty  compa'.ion,  goes  out,  and  must  be  re-lighted  by 
the  taper  which  is  at  hand,  and  kept  burning  all    day.     But  the 
white  beer  must  not  be  forgotten.     The  venerable  old  man  had 

*Hahneinann's  Lebeii,  Leipsic,  2nd  edit.,  1875. 

—  21  — 


so  accustomed  himself  to  this  sweet  drink  that  it  always  stood 
in  a  large  covered  glass  on  his  table.  At  his  meals,  too,  he  takes 
this  drink.  He  does  not  drink  wine.  His  mode  of  life  is  very  sim- 
ple, abstemious  and  patriarchal."* 

Hahnemann's  hand-writing  was  small,  neat  and  precise. 
He  was  careful  in  composition,  making  many  corrections  until 
the  form  of  expression  suited  him.  His  eyesight  continued  good 
to  old  age,  so  that  he  did  not  require  the  aid  of  spectacles. 
His  physical  condition  was  excellent.  His  life  was  one  of  work, 
not  of  dissipation  ;  and  his  body  had  been  well  cared  for.  This 
well  accounts  for  his  capacity  for  labor,  and  explains  the 
amount  of  work  he  could  perform,  often  spending  the  hours  of 
the  night  as  well  as  the  day  in  writing  and  in  study.  A  list 
of  his  principal  works,  including  the  chief  articles  written  for 
the  journals  and  the  large  pamphlets,  number  1 14  during  the  years 
1777  to  1832.  His  correspondence  during  this  time  was  also  very 
extensive;  and  if  his  letters  were  all  preserved,  they  would  fill  sev- 
eral volumes.  The  extent  to  which  Hahnemann  punsued  his  studies 
was  remarkable  and  was  possible  only  for  one  who  possessed  in  the 
highest  degree  a  sound  mind  in  a  sound  body.  Albrecht  (loc.  cit.) 
says  :  *'  His  amount  of  knowledge  was  astonishing.  He  was  at 
home  in  all  the  sciences,  even  in  those  which  had  no  connection  with 
medicine.  Information  could  be  obtained  from  him  about  them 
all.  For  even  if  he  had  not  particularly  pursued  any  branch  of 
science,  he  was  sure  to  have  read  a  great  deal  about  it.  '  A 
really  educated  man,'  he  used  often  to  say,  'must  be  well  up  in 
all  subjects.'  Thus  he  was  well  acquainted  with  astronomy. 
He  was  a  good  meteorologist.  He  was  not  less  thoroughly  ac- 
quainted witii  geography.  He  had  paid  special  attention  to 
magnetism  and  mesmerism,  and  made  use  of  them  in  certain 
cases  of  disease  with  favorable  results.  -^  '~  His  translations 
showed  that  he  was  proficient  in  modern  languages  ;  while  at  the 
same  time  he  was  a  most  thorough  classical  scholar."  What  a  les- 
.son  this  teaches  to  physicians  of  our  own  day  !  What  an  advocate 
of  higher  education  Hahnemann  would  have  been  had  he  lived 
with  us  !  What  a  contempt  he  would  have  expressed  for  the  so- 
called  ''doctor"  whose  library  consists  of  a  solitary  book  on 
practice  ;    perhaps   one  on  symptomatology,   if  the  owner  is  a 


^Skizzen,  etc.,  Karlsruhe,  1830. 

—  22  — 


Homoeopath  ;  who  not  only  thinks  it  unnecessary  for  the  phy 
sician  to  be  a  cultured  man  in  the  broadest  sense,  but  who  has 
no  use  even  for  the  sciences  allied  to  medicine.  Do  you  want 
to  be  a  true  Hahnemannian  ?  It  is  not  enough  to  be  well  ac- 
quainted with  the  materia  medica.  You  are  unworthy  to  bear 
the  name  of  Hahnemann  if  you  do  not,  like  him,  strive  to  be  "well 
up  in  all  subjects." 

Hahnemann  astonished  his  friends  when  at  the  age  of  eighty 
he  took  for  his  second  wife  an  intelligent,  accomplished  and  cul- 
tured French  lady  of  34  years — Mme.  Melanied'Hervilly  Gohier. 
But  Hahnemann  at  eighty  was  younger  than  some  of  us  at  fifty ; 
and  was  doubtless  well-fitted  for  the  companionship  of  the  lady 
v7ho  charmed  him  in  his  later  years.  The  arrangement,  at  all 
events,  seems  to  have  been  perfectly  satisfactory  to  both  parties. 
His  wife  persuaded  him  to  remove  to  Paris,  where  a  larger  field 
was  opened  up  for  his  labors  ;  and  from  that  city,  five  years 
after  his  marriage,  he  writes  to  his  friend.  Dr.  Schreter,  of  Lem- 
berg :  "  I  cannot  remember  in  my  life  having  ever  felt  better 
and  happier  than  here  in  Paris,  where  I  am  enjoying  the  affec- 
tionate intercourse  of  my  dear  Melanie,  who  cares  for  nothing  in 
the  world  more  than  for  me.  I  find,  too,  that  my  medical  labors 
begin  to  excite  more  than  attention — respect — for  our  divine 
healing  art  in  this  great  metropolis."  An  American  lady,*  who 
visited  him  in  Paris,  in  1839,  four  years  after  he  had  removed 
to  that  city,  wrote  an  account  of  her  interview  which  was  pub- 
lished subsequently  by  the  pioneer  homceopathic  publisher  of 
this  country,  Wm.  Radde.  She  was  evidently  a  most  enthusi- 
astic admirer  of  Hahnemann  and  his  wife,  and  was  possibly 
inclined  to  exaggerate.  She  speaks  of  him  as  a  sort  of  Monte 
Christo,  living  in  a  large  palace,  most  magnificently  furnished, 
attended  by  a  princely  retinue,  and  receiving  at  his  daily  levee 
a  host  of  patients  so  great  in  number  that  one  wonders  how 
with  his  habits  of  patient  investigation  into  his  casts  he  could 
ever  have  prescribed  for  one-fourth  of  them.  But  her  descrip- 
tion of  his  personal  appearance  corresponds  with  that  of  Brun- 
now  and  of  Griesselich.  She  found  him  sitting  at  his  table, 
which  was  covered  with  books ;  his  wife  by  his  side  act- 
ing as  his  secretary ;  questioning  the  patient  land  recording 
the  symptoms.      "  His    slender  and   diminutive  form,"  we  are 

*Helen  Berkeley. 

—  23  — 


told  "was  enveloped  in  a  flowered  dressing-gown  of  rich  mate- 
rials, and  too  comfortable  in  appearance  to  be  of  other  than 
Parisian  make.  The  crown  of  his  large,  beantifnlly  proportioned 
head  was  covered  by  a  skull-cap  of  black  v^elvet.  From  beneath 
it  strayed  a  few  thin,  snowy  locks,  which  clustered  about  his 
noble  forehead,  and  spoke  of  the  advanced  age  which  the  linger- 
ing freshness  of  his  florid  complexion  seemed  to  deny.  His  eyes 
were  dark,  deep  set,  glittering,  and  full  of  animation.  As  he 
greeted  me,  he  removed  from  his  mouth  a  long  painted  pipe, 
the  bowl  of  which  nearly  reached  to  his  knees.  But  after  the 
first  salutation  it  was  instantly  resumed,  as  I  was  apprized  by 
the  volumes  of  blue  smoke  which  began  to  curl  about  his  head, 
as  though  to  veil  it  from  my  injudicious  scrutiny."  Here,  then, 
in  Paris,  he  lived  for  some  eight  years  after  his  marriage ;  busy 
in  the  practice  of  his  profession ;  happy  in  his  domestic  relations ; 
and  here,  at  last,  his  labors  ceased,  and  he  entered  into  de- 
served rest. 

Let  Jahr  tell  the  story  of  Hahnemann's  departure.  Writing 
on  the  4th  of  June,  1843,  to  the  Allgemeine  Homceopathische 
Zeitung,  (Vol.  24,  No.  17)  he  says:  "About  the  15th  of  April  be 
was  taken  ill  with  the  malady  which  usually  attacked  him  iti  the 
Spring — a  bronchial  catarrh — and  it  took  such  hold  of  him  that 
his  wife  admitted  no  one.  The  report  was  spread  several  times 
that  he  was  dead ;  this,  however,  was  contradicted.  I  had  been 
intending  to  call  myself,  when  I  received  a  note  from  Mme. 
Hahnemann  begging  me  to  come  that  same  day.  I  went  at  once, 
and  was  admitted  to  Hahnemann's  bed-room.  Here — think  of 
the  sight — instead  of  seeing  Hahnemann — the  dear,  friendly  old 
man — smile  his  greeting,  I  found  his  wife  stretched  in  tears  on 
the  bed,  and  him  lying  cold  and  stiff  by  her  side,  having  passed 
five  hours  before  into  that  life  where  there  is  no  strife,  no  sick- 
ness, and  no  death.  Yes,  dear  friends,  our  venerable  Father 
Hahnemann  has  finished  his  course.  A  chest  affection  has,  after 
,  six  weeks'  illness,  liberated  his  spirit  from  its  weary  frame.  His 
mental  powers  remained  unimpaired  up  to  the  last  moment,  and 
although  his  voice  became  more  and  more  unintelligible,  yet  his 
broken  words  testified  to  the  continued  clearness  of  his  mind 
and  to  the  calm  with  which  he  anticipated  his  approaching  end. 
*  *  *  Profound  grief  for  this  great  loss  is  felt  here  by  all 
his  followers.     All  shed  tears  of  gratitude  and  affection  for  him. 

—  24  — 


But  the  loss  of  those  who  have  had  the  happiness  of  enjoying 
the  friendship  of  this  great  man  can  only  be  estimated  by  those 
who  have  known  him  in  his  domestic  circle,  and  especially  dur- 
ing his  last  years.  He,  himself,  when  not  persecuted  by  others, 
was  not  only  a  good^  but  a  simple-hearted  and  benevolent  man, 
who  was  never  happier  than  when  among  friends  to  whom  he 
could  unreservedly  open  his  heart.  Well,  he  has  nobly  fought 
through  and  gloriously  completed  his  difficult  and  often  painful 
course.     Sit  ei   terra  levis." 

And  so,  at  the  advanced  age  of  eighty-eight,  in  the  fullness 
of  years,  whose  end  crowned  his  life-work,  Hahnemann  died. 
Died,  did  I  say  ?  No  ;  not  that.  Some  men  never  die.  Though 
the  atoms  that  have  built  up  the  body  are  resolved  into  element- 
al forms,  that  man  lives  on  in  noble  deeds,  in  winged  words,  in 
thoughts  that  never  die.  And  Hahnemann  lives  to-day,  and 
will  live  through  all  time,  in  the  doctrines  he  taught,  in  the 
work  he  performed,  in  the  influence  he  exerted  on  medical 
science. 

For  the  first  time  in  the  world's  history  we  see  the  practice 
of  medicine  resting  on  a  scientific  basis ;  and  that  was  Hahn- 
emann's work.  While  faint  and  uncertain  glimpses  of  the  prin- 
ciples he  enunciated  had  been  caught  at  times,  "as  through  a 
glass  darkly,"  by  some  of  his  predecessors,  it  was  left  for  h'm  to 
see  the  truth  in  all  its  brightness  ;  to  comprehend  it  in  all  its 
details;  to  promulgate  it,  to  impress  it  on  aM  future  gener- 
ations. 

The  new  Organon  of  rational  medicine  embraces  these  ele- 
ments :  The  recognition  of  disease  by  the  totality  of  its  symp- 
toms ;  the  individualization  of  diseased  subjects ;  the  proving 
of  medicines  upon  persons  in  health  ;  the  administration  of  a 
simple  prescription  in  the  smallest  effective  dose,  in  accordance 
with  an  unvarying  rule — the  law  of  similarity.  This  was  the 
work  of  a  creative  genius,  operating  on  a  world  of  chaos — formless 
and  void,  vitalizing  medical  science,  and  bringing  it  into  system- 
atic and  definite  shape.  This  was  Hahnemann's  creative  work — 
a  work  in  which  he  stood  and  stands  alone. 

Macaulay,  writing  of  Lord  Bacon, likens  him  to  Moses  on  Mount 
Pisgah.  '*  There  we  see  the  great  lawgiver  looking  around  from 
his  lone  elevation  on  an  infinite  expanse.  Behind  him  a  wilder- 
ness of  dreary  sands  and  bitter  waters,  in  which  successive  gen- 

—  26  — 


eratioiis  have  sojourned,  always  moving  yet  never  advancing ; 
reaping  no  harvest  and  building  no  abiding  city  ;  before  him  a 
goodly  land,  a  land  of  promise,  i  land  flowing  with  milk  and 
honey.  While  the  multitude  below  saw  only  the  flat  sterile  des- 
ert in  which  they  had  so  long  wandered,  bounded  on  every  side 
by  a  near  horizon,  or  diversified  only  by  some  deceitful  mirage,  he 
was  gazing  from  a  far  higher  stand  on  a  far  lovelier  land, — follow- 
ing with  his  eye  the  long  course  of  fertilizing  nvers,  through 
ample  pastures,  and  under  the  bridges  of  great  capitals ;  measur- 
ing the  distances  of  marts  and  havens,  and  portioning  out  all 
those  wealthy  regions  from  Dan  to  Bathsheba." 

Such  words  might  well  be  applied  to  Hahnemann,  as  we  see 
him  in  his  Organon,  surveying  the  barren  waste  behind,  looking 
forward  to  the  fruitful  plain  before.  But  if  he  were  the  keen-eyed 
law-giver  Moses  on  the  mountain  top,  equally  true  is  it  that  he 
was  the  militant  Joshua,  leading  on  to  the  coveted  land  he  had 
viewed  from  Pisgah's  height ;  crossing  with  fearless  tread  the 
swift  rolling  Jordan  that  opposed  its  floods  in  vain  ;  pushing  on 
through  hostile  hordes ;  battling  with  the  hosts  of  stolid  igno- 
rance and  stubborn  prejudice  and  dogmatic  conservatism.  Forty- 
seven  years  of  such  warfare  had  he  ;  begun  single-handed,  with 
no  one  on  his  side  but  the  Divine  Truth  itself;  and  before  that 
warfare  ended  and  his  life-work  closed  in  peace,  he  had  gained 
victories  worthy  of  the  cause  for  which  he  fought.  He  saw  his 
doctrines  .spread  over  Europe, — and  taking  root  beyond  the  sea, 
in  this  western  continent.  More  than  500  followers  in  his  own 
profession  carried  the  banner  of  Homttopathy  ;  a  dozen  period- 
icals advocated  the  law  of  similia  ;  while  the  leader  himself  had 
obtained  honor  and  fame  and  wealth  enough  to  satisfy  a  more 
ambitious  man  than  he. 

Since  his  time,  what  are  the  improvements  that  have  been 
made  in  medicine  ?  None.  In  surgery  there  have  been  great 
advances ;  in  chemistry  and  biology  there  have  been  great  discov- 
eries ;  in  the  allied  sciences  there  have  been  marked  develop- 
ments. But  in  medical  practice  in  its  stricter  sense — in  the 
treatment  of  diseased  conditions  by  specific  remedies — how  barren 
of  results  have  been  all  later  investigations  !  What  has  the  Old 
School  of  medicine  accomplished  ?  The  chemical  laboratory 
has  added  a  few  trifles  to  its  materia  medica  ;  and  that  is  all  of 
value  for  which  it  claims  credit. 

-26  — 


But  if  it  has  shown  little  originality,  it  has  exhibited  fair 
powers  of  imitation.  Many  of  the  remedies  introduced  and  prov- 
en by  Hahnemann  have  been  appropriated,  and  without  acknowl- 
edgment. The  maximum  dose  has  been  supplanted  by  a  dose 
approximating  the  minimum.  The  barbarities  of  the  lancet  and 
kindred  abominations  which  Hahnemann  exercised  have  disap- 
peared, or  only  flit  across  the  scene,  ghosts  of  a  dead  medical 
past.  The  hygienic  regimen  that  Hahnemann  practiced,  the 
sanitary  rules  that  he  taught,  have  become  an  important  element 
in  Old  School  therapeutics ;  have,  in  fact,  become  the  chief  med- 
ical paraphernalia  of  many  of  the  best  of  Old  School  physicians, 
who  despair  of  ciiring  disease,  and  hope  only  to  prevent  it.  All 
the  improvements  in  the  practice  of  the  Old  School  to-day  are 
either  directly  or  indirectly  the  offspring  of  Homceopathy,  and 
can  be  traced  back  to  the  great  apostle  of  medical  reform — Sam- 
uel Hahnemann.  Theories  more  or  less  fanciful  have  been 
evolved  ;  and  facts  have  been  more  or  less  distorted  to  uphold  the 
theories.  Some  are  as  fallacious  as  the  mythical  elixir  z'itac  ex- 
pressed by  Brown-Sequard  from  the  Agni  Sitccm;  some  may  have 
a  more  plausible  origin  in  the  microscopic  field  investigated  by 
Pasteur  and  Koch ;  but  none  have  developed  therapeutic  meas- 
ures to  compare  with  the  law  of  siuiilia.  Nor  can  they,  if  the 
law  of  similia  be,  as  we  believe,  the  law  of  specific  therapeutics. 
They  are  but  ignis  faiui  in  the  swamp  of  Old  School  medicine — 
retreating  the  further  into  the  dim  distance  the  more  they  are 
pursued. 

I  hold  up  for  you  the  personality  of  Hahnemann  as  the  bright 
example  for  the  imitation  of  all  who  would  be  true  physicians. 
Some  men  boast  of  being  Hahnemannians.  It  is  a  most  laudable 
desire  to  seek  ever  to  be  worthy  to  bear  the  name  of  the  great 
master  in  medicine.  How  may  that  be  best  accomplished?  How 
can  we  deserve  the  name  of  Hahnemannians?  It  is  not  by  sim- 
ply attempting  to  follow  him  in  all  the  little  details  of  medical 
practice — details  which  he  varied  as  circumstances  required. 
That  would  be  no  more  essential  than  to  speak  his  language  ;  to 
wear  garments  of  the  fashion  he  wore  ;  to  smoke  his  pipe;  or  to 
make  his  white  beer  our  daily  beverage.  It  is  not  necessary  to 
believe  implicitly  everything  he  believed ;  to  accept  his  ipse  dixit, 
for  no  other  reason  than  because  the  master  has  spoken.  The 
true  Hahnemannian  is  one  who,  after  due  study  and  ample  expe- 

—  27  — 


rience,  accepts  that  great  principle  in  medicine,  the  law  of  simiUa, 
with  its  logical  corollaries — the  simple  prescription  and  the  mini- 
mum dose.  Accepting  these  as  true,  he  must  possess  also  the 
spirit  of  independence  which  Hahnemann  possessed — the  spirit 
which  will  permit  the  adoption  of  no  theory  simply  because  some 
great  man  announced  it;  which  will  accept  as  true  only  those  things 
which  personal  experience  and  investigation  have  proved  to  be 
true.  He  must  have  the  studious  disposition  of  Hahnemann,  that 
will  consider  every  day  wasted  on  which  nothing  has  been  learned. 
He  must  have  the  courage  of  Hahnemann,  to  think  the  truth, 
and  speak  the  truth,  and  do  the  right,  though  earth  and  hell  oppo.se. 
He  must  keep  ever  before  him  the  one  practical  aim  which  filled 
the  field  of  Hahnemann's  mental  vision  through  all  his  life,  and 
which  is  enunciated  in  the  opening  sentence  of  the  Orgauon  : 
"The  first  and  sole  duty  of  the  physician  is  to  heal  the  sick."  To 
be  honest  in  purpose,  constant  in  study,  independent  in  thought, 
persistent  in  effort,  brave  in  adversity,  humble  in  prosperity ; 
these  things  characterized  Hahnemann,  and  must  characterize 
all  who  would  call  themselves  by  his  name.  To  know — so  far 
as  he  can  know — the  science  which  he  strives  to  make  his  own  ; 
but  still  more  to  know  himself — to  know  his  own  power  and  his 
own  weakness  ;  to  have  the  courage  of  his  convictions  ;  to  con- 
trol himself  so  that  he  may  utilize  all  his  talents  to  the  best  ad- 
vantage in  the  pursuit  of  truth — these  are  always  the  salient 
features  of  a  true  Hahnemannian.  And  these  make  the  success- 
ful man  ;  for  the  mental  processes  of  such  an  one  lead  him  ever 
to  the  attainment  of  that  which  ends  in  success. 

"  Self-reverence,  self-knowledge,  self-control. 
These  three  alone  lead  life  to  sovereign  power. 
Yet  not  for  power — power  of  herself 
Would  come  uncalled  for — but  to  live  by  law, 
Acting  the  law  we  live  by  without  fear  ; 
And  because  right  is  right  to  follow  right. 
Were  wisdom  in  the  scorn  of  consequence." 


—  28  — 


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